Fans had travelled from as far away a America to be at the Wulfrun for the last show of Mark King's British leg of his European tour

King must have felt certain trepidation about the possible reaction of the audience to his solo tour, having effectively been out of the music scene for so long but he need not have worried.

A packed audience of vociferous supporters greeted the former Level 42 front man and his three piece band who opened the set with Hot Water, a number that certainly raised the temperature in the auditorium very quickly.

For the first half of the show , King, on bass guitar and vocals, worked his way amiably through many of the album tracks associated with the 80's chart-toppers. These included World machine and Kansas City Milkman but King cleverly interspersed these with melodic tunes from the appropriately named solo album One Man, such as his last single Bitter Moon and the likely next single Changing the Guard.

Although complaining that he was suffering from flu, King managed to get through his one and a half hour set without any problems and the show came to a crescendo during the last half hour when King unashamedly embarked on a nostalgia trip playing a string of hits from yesteryear in the form of Running In The Family, Lessons in Love and Something About You.

The support of the evening was a promising new group from South London, Stargirl, who described themselves as the most successful unsigned band on the Internet.

Stephen King

(transcribed by Richard & Carol Smith)